U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,506 is representative of known devices for making electrical tap connections to the conductors in a flat conductor cable. The connecting system shown in that patent comprises an insulating support having a plurality of double-ended connecting devices mounted therein. One end of each connecting device extends beyond a cable supporting surface of the insulating support and has a wire-receiving slot therein for reception of a wire in the cable. The other end of each connecting device extends beyond the opposite surface of the insulating support so that a further connecting device can be coupled to the other end of each connecting device. In use, the cable is clamped against the one surface so that the individual wires in the cable are moved into the wire-receiving slots of the connecting devices and the further connecting device can then be coupled to the other ends of the connecting devices.
The connecting device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,506 lacks several advantages which are achieved in the practice of the present invention as will be described below. For example, the connecting device shown in the prior art patent requires that a separate connecting device be used for every connection which must be made between a conductor in the cable and the external conductor to which the cable conductor is to be connected. If two or three external conductors are required to be connected to a single cable conductor, three connecting devices must be connected to the cable conductor. It follows that a specialized connecting device must be manufactured for every specific circuit arrangement requiring electrical connections between the conductors in the cable and the external conductors, the specialized device being produced with connecting devices at the precise locations which are needed for the circuit patterns which are to be achieved.
The connecting device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,506 requires that all of the wires in the flat conductor cable be of the same gauge and there are many circumstances under which it would be desirable to make connections to a cable having wires of different gauges therein.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of a connector for making tap connections to the conductors in a flat conductor cable which has a high degree of versatility as regards, for example, the number of wires in the cable, the gauges or diameters of the wires, and the number and locations of the electrical connections between the cable wires and the external conductors. The invention is further directed to the achievement of a tap connector system which permits conventional electrical connectors having male tab contacts extending from their mating faces to be coupled to the tap connecting device and thereby connected to the conductors in the flat cable. The invention is also directed to the achievement of a tap connector by means of which two or more electrical connections can be made to an individual conductor in the cable and which can be mated with electrical connectors that have male tab contacts extending therefrom.